Conditionals

Conditionals or the ‘if clauses’ as they are commonly called are sentences (or rather a part of a sentence) which introduce a probable or hypothetical condition which is followed by a certain consequence.

For example-

If you burn paper, it becomes ash.

If the dog barks, the neighbours will wake up.

If I were you, I would tell her the truth.

If she hadn’t been busy, she would have called upon me.

In sentence 1 ‘If you burn paper’ is the condition and ‘it becomes ash’ is the result of the fulfilment of that condition. Similarly, in sentence 2 the condition ‘If the dog barks,’ leads to the certain consequence ‘the neighbours will wake up.’ However, in sentences 3 and 4 the conditions become quite less probable and the consequences as a result become less achievable.

The conditionals are, primarily, constructed using the subordinate-conjunction ‘If’. However, in certain cases other conjunctions representing ‘condition’ can also be used, such as, ‘when’ and ‘unless’.

Note:Unless is used in a sentence with negative consequence and can replace the ‘if + not’ construction.

For example-

Unless you stop crying, we won’t talk to you.

If you don’t tell me what you saw, I can’t press charges.

Or

Unless you tell me what you saw, I can’t press charges.

Types of Conditionals:

The conditionals are divided into four broad categories based on the decreasing order of the probability of the condition presented in the ‘if clause’. They are:

Zero

Type 1

Type 2

Type 3

Zero conditional:

The zero conditional is used to express a fact or a universal truth. The probability of the condition in the ‘if clause’ is the highest because it is factual.

Both the ‘if clause’ and the consequence clause have verbs in the present simple tense.

If you think about it, it is not a true form of condition because the Earth does revolve around the Sun and the seasons do change. Since, the probability is maximum in this case, the certainty of consequence is also maximum. Therefore, the ‘if’ can be replaced with ‘when’, as now it’s just a matter of time as to when the condition will take place and result in the consequence.

Let’s look at the next example to make it clearer.

If you heat ice, it turns into water.

When you heat ice, it turns into water.

Since, the ice will change into water upon heating as a rule, it hardly leaves any doubts regarding the consequence. Therefore ‘if’ and ‘when’ are interchangeable in a Zero conditional.

Type 1 conditional:

Type 1 conditionals have ‘if clauses’ with highly probable present or future conditions which results in a consequence in the future.

In sentence 1, his signing the papers has a very low probability, and so the consequence would not take place. We can also see it the other way around. In 2, since she did not let me know, that means nothing happened.

If I were you, I would tell her the truth.

If she was alive, things would be different.

In sentences 3 and 4, the probability of the conditions ever coming true is zero (I am not you and she is not alive), which makes them hypothetical and so the consequences become wishful thinking.

Type 3 conditional:

Type 3 conditionals present situations that have already taken place in the past and can no longer be changed. These conditions are purely hypothetical as there is zero possibility of their occurrence. Hence, the consequences also become hypothetical.